William Royal papers, 1863-1869.

Abstract: William Royal, originally from New York State, was captain of Company F, 9th Colored Infantry Regiment, during the Civil War, and, after the war, a Freedmen’s Bureau (Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands) agent in Georgia. Letters and other papers, 18 November 1863-6 March 1869, relating to William Royal. The letters were sent to Royal from various correspondents and mainly relate to events in the daily lives of their writers, but there is some discussion of Royal’s service in the Freedmen’s Bureau, the rising presence of the Ku Klux Klan, and the presidential election of 1868. Papers relating to Royal’s service in the United States Army consist chiefly of invoices for military supplies (shoes, uniforms, rifles, etc.) either received by the regiment or sent back to the Quartermaster.Freedmen’s Bureau papers consist mostly of circulars issued by the Bureau about providing jobs for unemployed freedmen; preserving civil order; forming a temperance society for freedmen; responding to intimidation by a “secret organization,” presumably the Ku Klux Klan; and other issues.

Repository: Southern Historical Collection

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